Newcastle boss Eddie Howe has said reaching a semi-final is “not enough” as his side prepare to face Southampton for a place in the Carabao Cup final.
The Magpies haven’t won a major domestic trophy since 1955, but Howe says his side are “desperate for what’s next”.
Newcastle travel to St Mary’s for the first leg on Tuesday.
“We’re delighted to be where we are, but the semi-final itself is not enough,” Howe said at Monday’s press conference.
“At the end of the day, you want to go further. I know the players feel the same way.
“Me and my coaching staff are passionate about the fact that we want to make the final, but we have to navigate these two games and they are going to be very difficult.
“I think the away game will be a really good show for the traveling fans and it’s on TV so everyone has a chance to watch the game.
“We are desperate for the next stage, but we really need to put that aside and focus on the process and the work, and the job is to go to Southampton and play.”
Newcastle are in fine form after beating Leicester City to advance to the last four, while their recent draw at Crystal Palace extended their Premier League unbeaten streak to 15 games.
Meanwhile Southampton are bottom of the top flight and struggling to gain momentum, despite performing well in cup competitions after reaching the FA Cup fourth round and beating Manchester City in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Saints manager Nathan Jones said he wanted to emulate Howe’s success with the Magpies after taking over from Ralph Hasenhuttl on the South Coast in November.
“I have a lot of admiration for Eddie as a human being, and as a coach and manager,” Jones said.
“He proves he can build something, he can take setbacks and then he can go to a Premier League club and do well.
“Our careers have a lot of parallels and I’ve spoken to him a few times. If I can get close to him, I’ll be delighted.
“That’s what I have to do here. That’s what I was driven to do, develop players to be better than what other people thought they could be or the levels they were playing at. That’s what coaching is, that’s what human management is.
“We have players who have bought everything. I have to make sure I give them a structure and follow them so that they continue to stick to the game plan, to the structure so that they improve individually and we get better as we go as a team.”
